§ 10. Mr. Joseph Deanasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he has received any correspondence relating to the conditions in Armley Prison; and if he will make a statement.
§ Dr. SummerskillMy right hon. Friend has received four letters arising out of the publicity recently given to complaints about the treatment of prisoners at Leeds Prison who are removed for their own protection under Prison Rule 43 from association with other prisoners not similarly segregated. The complaints are alleged to have been made by one such unnamed prisoner. It is at present unavoidable that Rule 43 prisoners at Leeds have to spend long periods each day in their cells, but my right hon. Friend is satisfied that all the specific complaints of ill-treatment are without foundation.
§ Mr. DeanDoes the Minister agree that if the contents of the letter being circulated in the Yorkshire area by PROP axe unfounded, the contents of that letter are an unwarranted slander on the staff at Armley Gaol, Leeds, who are doing a first-class job under very difficult and overcrowded circumstances?
§ Dr. SummerskillI can confirm that the 13 points made in the letter to which my hon. Friend referred are without foundation. I have nothing but praise for the prison officers at Leeds Prison, who are working in very difficult circumstances.